The White Ferns return to the international arena tomorrow when they take on England in Dunedin in the first of five T20 Internationals.
The side will be without Debbie Hockley medallist Melie Kerr and regular captain Sophie Devine, two players capable of having an outsized influence on any fixture, but in those absences lies an incredible opportunity - to prove this side believes it belongs at cricket’s top table.
There is little doubt New Zealand is playing catch up with sides like England and Australia (with India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan also on an upward trajectory).
The White Ferns boast some of the most destructive players on the planet, but are still searching for a way to calculate a total greater than the sum of all parts.
The side last played international cricket in December, against a much-improved Pakistan side, dropping its first two T20 fixtures and handing the series to the visitors.
Those two matches may well stand as a turning point for the team - it was a wake-up call, a reminder that nothing in cricket is easily achieved, and that as a team, success must be both earned and celebrated.
New Zealand has the talent to take on the English, who will also be without some of their biggest names for the opening clash, but belief is another story.
International cricket takes enormous determination, but it also takes confidence.
The Australian men showcased that quality on their recent tour to New Zealand and the White Ferns would do well to harness that energy for this series. If this side can find the why, the have the how.
It has been a tough few seasons for the Ferns – a disappointing tour to Sri Lanka last year was compounded by those early December results against Pakistan – but in those hard times, resilience can be fostered and built upon.
That has been at the heart of coach Ben Sawyer’s strategy for the team, and this will be the series during which that work must pay off.
Sawyer, based in Australia, has had to learn the New Zealand psyche before having the opportunity to short circuit it. Having worked with the best across the ditch, in systems with far greater organisation, infrastructure and resource than New Zealand can currently boast, the White Ferns role may well have been his most challenging to date. It’s a challenge he has eagerly taken on.
A quiet, studious man rarely seen without a cap, and who thinks about cricket in a highly strategic way, Sawyer will know the foundation of this White Ferns side is solid.
What he will have been eager to instil in his charges is that sense of self belief, an absence of which has plagued the side in recent seasons. Desire exists, but desire is fool’s gold unless a path to the goal is plotted out with crystal clarity.
It is never easy to believe in your own capability when you see others with more at their disposal, and when the programmes for the New Zealanders and English are laid out side by side the disadvantage for the Kiwis is patently clear.
But this team needs to park that thinking and focus on what they do have: a tight-knit, highly talented team with the ability to use home conditions effectively and ruthlessly.
With Melie Kerr and Devine missing, there will be pressure on the bowling unit to perform. This pressure should be welcomed.
Rosemary Mair’s outstanding domestic season has seen her recalled for international duty, and her hard work in returning from injury has paid a dividend in a touch more spice in each delivery.
Mair’s Central Districts team mate Hannah Rowe has genuine all-round capability and her ability to have the ball talking is something the English will do well to be wary of.
If these two in particular can put the shoulders back and put the shoulder in, New Zealand have a pace duo that can intimidate any opposition.
Operating with accuracy will be all-important for the two quicks, as it will for the young spinners, Fran Jonas and Eden Carson. Left-armer Jonas has an uncanny knack for taking key wickets in clutch moments, and is growing into her place in the side.
Carson can easily hold up an end and has the benefit of home town advantage in the first match. Rounding out that attack, will be Jess Kerr, a proven powerplay performer, and one who should relish her role during this series.
New Zealand have sometimes been caught between tactics when it comes to batting and fans will be hoping a clearer direction will emerge during this series.
The opening match will test the top order, anchored by veteran Suzie Bates, who captained the side during two warm up victories against England A.
Her calm presence has been crucial, but there will also be a need to score at pace, especially in the opening stages. That New Zealand were able to win both setting a total and chasing in those warm up fixtures will have given them plenty of confidence.
That should flow on to players like Maddy Green and Brooke Halliday, each capable of crafting match-winning totals, and Georgia Plimmer and Izzy Gaze are both youngsters who are beginning to thrive in the environment. Again, with confidence will come clarity, and that’s what this team is so desperate to distil.
While no one would suggest New Zealand will go into the series as favourites, it would be folly to think England have everything in their favour.
The White Ferns know they have put in the hard graft during the summer and, if they can truly find a way to put fear to one side, this could well be a series that sets them up for the next twelve months, and a looming World Cup. When firing on all cylinders they are every bit the equal of any team. When they are fuelled by belief, they are even a little better.
Finding that belief, bone deep and bona fide, must be the catch cry of the next fortnight. Should that happen, the Ferns could be on the cusp of a special series indeed.
Follow the White Ferns during New Zealand's summer of cricket on TVNZ+
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